HR Speaks

Corporate Health, Insurance & Wellness

By Deepak Bharara*

The round table discussion was centered on the topic "Corporate Health and Wellness".

Prima facie all participants agreed that in today’s dynamic world, most of the companies are encouraging their employees to be fitter & healthier in the workplace and are increasingly seeking new ways to enhance their well-being. Not only physical wellness but also ensuring employees’ mental and emotional wellness is equally important. Maintaining sufficient level of wellbeing is foremost for an employee to stay productive at work, and with this aim the following trends were discussed by the panel members:

Use of Wellness apps

Many organizations are using Mobile apps, which has multiple advantages. It allows tracking employee wellness by letting them share information about their activities. Wellness messages can be delivered to the mass pool for creating awareness. It gives real time feedback to track one’s health. And it is being used as an effective tool to sensitize people on the importance of wellness.

Make fitness a habit

Organizations are making every effort to make fitness a habit amongst their employees. On-site gyms, healthier snacks, tie-up with fitness centers, having internal wellness experts and organizing yoga sessions were some of the points discussed in the roundtable.

Pre-screening and administering health risk assessments

Majority of organizations have tied up with hospitals and pre-screening centers for administering health risks of employees and their families. Regular health checkup camps, health talk series and blood donation camps are organized for their workforce.

Don't force wellness

Never force wellness to employees. It will just increase the problem of resentfulness and disengagement. Creating new, more productive habits requires that employees enter the program with an intrinsic desire to change. Give them the choice while trying to coach them. The power to choose creates long-term engagement.

Effectively communicating wellness

Lack of awareness, lack of interest and suspicions about employer's motivations are common barriers while developing the wellness program. Effective communication of the ongoing and upcoming wellness initiatives are must. This can help overcome some of the top barriers to program participation and success.

To conclude, as a business leader, wellness needs to be a priority and a part of every leader’s roles and responsibilities. Investing in well-being programs can bring about plethora of direct and indirect benefits to the organization as a whole.

Wellness needs to be treated as the foundational block of organization culture. It has to form part of Strategy to succeed.